Is The Netbook Dead?

One of the questions that we have heard many times lately is: Is the netbook dead? It sounds like a fair question on the surface but starts to lose validity when you carefully examine the data.

A few years ago Netbooks were the darlings of the computer world. Like many others, we fell in love with them and felt they were the best road devices ever created. We wrote many an article on them and reviewed quite a few of the little wonders. Prognosticators around the world predicted them to be sales dynamos for years to come.

But in the past couple of years their sales have tanked. Why? Simple, the growth of Tablets and Phablets. Now the Tablet is the darling of computer users (I have five of them, four Android and one iPad, within arms reach as I’m writing this). Where are my beloved Netbooks? On a shelf behind me, gathering dust.

Does this mean the Netbook is dead? Nope, it just means the market has changed. When you use a bluetooth keyboard and/or mouse with a Tablet you have a device VERY similar in size and capability to a Netbook. That is exactly what has happened to the Netbooks market. People still want the size and weight of a Netbook but have added the convenience and added capability of touchscreen products to the original design.

The Netbook isn’t dead, it has just morphed into a Phablet with a bluetooth keyboard.